Engine oil light comes on intermitent

My '84 1100 GPZ's oil warning light would blink on and off, then go away for awhile, come back, etc. At this point, I guess I shouldn't be worried, it's been doing it almost from new. 23 years later with only 29 thousand miles on it, it still does. I've checked most of the usual potential symptoms like oil level. That's a low pressure oil pump on a roller bearing engine so you would think by now I would here some knocking or funky noise. I haven't hooked a pressure gage to it. I guess you can fit one at the nut on the right side crank galley like they did on older Z900's and KZ's.
So I guess what I'd like to know is if any other owners of Unitrak '83 or '84 Gpz's have had this experience.
A little piece of mind knowing that it just might be the gage cluster. Also, at night you can always see the dim glow of the blue high beam warning light when on low beam. So there is definitely a short or ground somewhere.
Stephen

i have an 84 gpz750 that does all of that. i dont understand why my oil light comes on but it does just what you said. i think the hi beam light on my is bleed over from the warning light. maybe my bike is your 1100's little brother:silly:

there is a warning light for a burnt out beam that glows all the time but it should not be your high beam light.

You didn't mention WHEN the light comes on... this is sort of critical to diagnosing this issue. If the light comes on when you are accelerating hard, this is kind of normal but not good. The oil pan has a series of ridges to keep oil from sloshing to the back of the pan under acceleration. Unfortunately, they don't work very well and oil gets on the back of the pan and the front of the pan goes dry momentarily during hard acceleration. The idiot light flickers and the oil pump doesn't pull oil up to wet the cam shafts. Folks who are prone to accelerating hard should install an oil pan gate which SHUTS when the bike is under hard acceleration. The gate shuts and oil is trapped in the front to keep the supply up for the pump. I have one of these gates in all my oil pans. MTC makes them and a number of performance parts sellers sell them. If the flickering occurs at other times, and your oil level is normal, then the problem will likely be in the electrical system.

The 83/84 ZX1100 uses a "Oil Level Switch", as does a 83-85 ZX750 (different part number). The switch has a float and contact that connect the switch's wire to ground when the oil level is FULL.

If the oil is low, or if you have a broken/disconnected wire or if the contact inside the switch is dirty (from years dirty engine oil going thru it) the oil light will come on, sometimes intermittantly.

I suspect that the oil level switch is dirty. You can clean it by spraying carb cleaner into its openings and using air blow out the goo, I used brake cleaner.

A service manual will tell you how to check the switch/circuit.

Here's that MTC Engineering Oil Gate WG was talking about.

MIS-K-339 Kawasaki Oil Pan Gate $16.25

MIS-K-339: This gate is designed to prevent loss of oil pressure due to the oil running to the back of the engine during acceleration.

Here's their website:
www.mtceng.com/index.php

Not bad for $16.25.

I agree with UniTrak. Clean the oil level sensor first, and the start tracing wire connections. Grounds are very common for having bad connections on our bikes.

Post edited by: CoreyClough, at: 2007/09/28 10:54

Read about it here:
www.kzrider.com/archive/viewthread.php?tid=28677

Out of curiosity... over the years have you found that the oil viscosity made any difference in the oil light flicker?

Best of success.

bill i ran sheel rotella in my bike a while bike and my oil light would stay on for about the first 5-7 miles. personally i didnt have the oil warning flash until rotella now ive had it ever since. im pretty fanatical about changing my oil(about every 500-750 miles)due to blowby from worn rings. the oil gate seems like a good idea for some reason if i dont "chirp" the tire hitting 2nd and third my bike will fall over:evil:. how hard is the installation of the gate? do you just drop the pan? will it fit one of the "low profile" pans?

1) Sorry, I wasn't real clear in my question. Have you seen a difference running 5W-30, 10W-40, etc.?

2) I did consider installing that Oil Surge Gate when I first heard about it in a post a while ago. According to the MTC web site, the parts were cheap enough and the concept seemed petty simple. However, I had to reconsider once realized the bolt you install requires drilling through the bottom of my perfectly good Oil Pan. :huh: That's when I realize, given the way I ride, this is an invention I don't need that badly. On the other hand, you may find this is exactly what you need.

Best of success

Post edited by: bill_wilcox100, at: 2007/09/28 13:47

Instead of drilling a hole in the bottom of your oil pan, mount the gate to the side of the oil filter mount...that way no oil will leak past the bolt, even though you can silicone the bolt to prevent this. I mounted mine on my dragbike to the oil filter mounting and it works great without the chance of an oil leak.

I should have mentioned at what time it occurred when running. That was one of my first observations. If it happened during strong acceleration, braking or cornering then that would be a clue to oil feed to the pick up in the sump and maybe the need for some sort of windage tray or baffle as mentioned.
But today, while cruising the New York State Northway at a steady 75 MPH, it would happen as described.
I appreciate everyone's input.
Thanks,
Stephen